Out of the Shadows
Posted by: Lili (07/06/2019) * E-Rank Description A grisly looking commoner arrives at the guild to deliver a wax-sealed envelope, shortly afterwards upon arrival, the messenger falls over in exhaustion and is taken away by Helga to be treated. Inside the wax-sealed envelope is a letter with some scribbled writing: “We are depleted of food and manpower to fend off these strange creatures, we won’t last much longer. Please send help.” - Village Chief Tytus of Larnwick Journals Tai Navitus (07/12/2019) Note- Translated into Elvish, Orcish, and Draconic as well. Before the job, we were given information by Nikas, who I’ve worked with before, and Kallanar, who I’ve never worked with. The commoner who was almost killed on his way to deliver the job, strange creatures attacking in the night from the shadows that fear the light. The Sorrosworn, Wretched, draining life from their victims...and living shadows. Kallanar has been here before, and has a contact in the village of Larnwick, a woman named Zika. Everyone introduces themselves, and they seem smart and capable enough...a strange drow with a white mask and a spider named Cuddles. Faraster...Tiffy, a little less outspoken but confident. Faraster steers the wagon of supplies that we are bringing to the village as night begins to fall with the sun setting on the horizon. The path is well travelled, the land fertile. I help Faraster steer as he is having difficulty with the horse and Kallanar and Tiffy arm themselves with healing kits from the supplies...hopefully to aid the villagers if they need it rather than for themselves. Myself and Kallanar look up ahead to see tall silhouettes in front of us, stones in an odd formation. We travel through slowly, getting stopped by bandits as we pass through a stone archway.They ask for 1000 gold pieces and after a bit of shenanigans, Kallanar attempts to bludgeon him with a magicked ball bearing, which starts the fight.I get the first move, attacking the two in front of us with my blade as my companions back me up. The combat is tough, and we are left bloodied, exhausted, and drained before we even get to the village...but we somehow manage to finish them off. Hope they have beds in that village...or the cart ride isn’t too bumpy. We rest for a bit on the way to the village of Larnwick, seeing a purple haired woman Kallanar believes is the shadar-kai he spoke of running in the foliage. We see dead corpses and livestock as we go towards the outskirts, investigating the corpses of the fallen to find bite marks similar to those that Kallanar was dealt on his last mission in these parts. We also find a body that seems to be harpooned through the chest with Kallanar’s help and find our way to a fortified building that the villagers are holed up in. Kallanar has a strange necromantic crystal that pulsates as he examines it. Tidus, the village leader, and myself go to bring the injured into the fortified building while the rest of the party unloads.I reassure the man as he asks us to refortify the walls. Kallanar asks Tidus about Orc, the man who was involved in his previous job, and Tidus is surprised about his knowledge. He’s alive and present. I take Kallanar’s crystal and investigate as we plan to bottleneck our enemies through the stables, the villagers armed and hiding inside. They attack the gate and breakthrough and we begin the defense. I summon my Tremor Fist but those things are strong and manage to break out, Faraster hides in a barrel, and Kallanar cautions us to stay at range. One latches on to Kallanar as they split up. The light is spotty as Farastar lands a telling blow on the creatures, and as he moves away from me I manage to destroy and heavily injure two of the creatures with Zephyr, a thunderous wave of wind. We continue to assault the Wretched and a giant creature with some strange harpoon arm, Kallanar taking out the second of the four wretched we started with as the others search the compound, summoned and spurred by the Harpoon arm that has been lit up by a light imbued crossbow bolt. Tiffy destroys the harpoon armed creature with an Eldritch Blast. The new swarm of The Wretched swarm the inside of the fortified compound, seeming to search for someone or something more important than us. We pursue them as they try to break into a room, eventually succeeding as I struggle to see the creatures in the dark and avoid my allies with my spells.I can’t seem to get a good GRASP (heh) on these things with my magic as they continue to storm the fortress, the stupid village people neglecting to light up the inside like I asked them to. We manage to defeat two outside in the main hall and follow deeper into the fortress house, seeing Kalanar go down as the wretched latch on to him and another person.We manage to redouble our efforts and down the rest of them, bringing a strange dwarf...Ork...presumably back from near death. This stupid dwarf has a cursed compass, but won’t give it up. We knock him out, and take it, it gets stronger with the crystal, giving off transmutation, abjuration, and necromantic magic. I noticed a small inscription on it, written in a strange language, which Kallanar recognizing it as Abyssal. None of us can read it, so we decide to keep the components separate and head back to the hoods, following Ork’s death after losing the compass. Before we do that, a portal appears, and the compass makes me want to eat dirt? I had to try it. Zika appears, not recognizing Kallanar, stepping out of a strange purple portal and approaching us. She asks for the compass, claiming it as her own. She apparently has a twin sister, Zilayah, and is a member of a clan who worships a creature trapped behind a gate. She claims to want to kill the creature, while her sister wants to release it...Balgoth.She agrees to contact us in the future as we give her the compass. Zika has a birthmark on her right, Zilayah has it on her left. She vanishes.Tidus had a baby boy! Kallanar seems upset by it, getting covered in afterbirth, and a hug and a kiss from the man. We get swarmed by civilians thanking us as I tell them to not let strange artifacts into their village again.I tell them to sell the strange monster parts to refill their coffers and we take our leave. Job complete!